I decided to start a new thread to deal with discussions of EU residents who either want kit that isn't available to us yet (such as the iRex DR800) or want to save some money on the prices we are charged here. I will repost a little research I did on buying a Sony PRS-600 online here in Spain:

Amazon US will sell me a PRS-600 for 211.20E, with 39.15E in shipping, for a grand total of 250.35E (before tax - VAT would be another 40E, or 290-something-E).

(Amazon will bill directly in Euros from any site if you have an EU credit card)

The Spanish place (Apolo) wants 299E plus 15 E for shipping for a grand total of 314E (43.31E in VAT included). Some other place wants 345E for the PRS-600, so I didn't even look into shipping.

Amazon UK will sell me the 600 for 269.98 GBP, plus 29.99 in shipping for a grand total of 299.98 GBP or 335.70 E. VAT included, of course.

So, the only reason not to buy in the US is service.

The guy at the local Sony store told me that they don't provide any warranty - that it comes directly from Sony, and it doesn't matter where you buy it (which, of course, is not what he would say if he wanted me to buy from him, but I don't really trust him to know what he is talking about, either). And he doesn't actually have one, either.

Also, the PRS-600 is not officially available in Spain from Sony, so I have no idea what the warranty situation is, no matter where I buy it. The guy at the Sony store said he would have one this month, but they also sell lots of non-Sony products (like Macs), so that doesn't mean anything about official support for the device (yeah, this is Spain, of course it doesn't make sense).

What experiences have you folks have getting service for things purchased through "extra-official" channels? I am specifically interested in Sony, but iRex products are also on my radar (specifically the PR800, depending on what the reviews say).

Also, the PRS-600 is not officially available in Spain from Sony, so I have no idea what the warranty situation is, no matter where I buy it.

The situation, as I mentioned in the other thread, is that if you buy anywhere in Europe, Sony Europe will provide warranty support. If you buy in the US, you'll have to return the device to the US (and pay for its return to you) if it needs repair. So you could buy from any European country where the Sony is available (eg UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria) and have full warranty cover.

Are you sure you could get the PRS-600 in Europe from Amazon.com ? Normally they do not send electronics to Europe, except now from their Kindle. Plus doing a research just now I only found merchands selling through Amazon, but not Amazon itself. Could you provide a link? A friend of mine in Belgium is interested.

Are you sure you could get the PRS-600 in Europe from Amazon.com ? Normally they do not send electronics to Europe, except now from their Kindle. Plus doing a research just now I only found merchands selling through Amazon, but not Amazon itself. Could you provide a link? A friend of mine in Belgium is interested.

Well, it works for me. I can't provide a link, of course, because you can't access my account, but I selected the PRS-600, checked out, it asked for an address, I selected my Spanish address, Spanish Credit Card, it converted the price to euros automatically, put in the 39E for shipping, with a note that I might get charged for VAT when it arrived. If you have an account, you should try it yourself at Amazon.com. Now that I look at this, it says that the PRS-600 will be shipped from "Ace Photo Digital Storefront". Amazon works with other retailers for lots of things. (I just tried this again, and it says that a second PRS-600 in my shopping basket is from "Crutchfield").

I don't know if the fact that I originally opened my Amazon account when I was in the US changes anything, but I have an EU address and EU credit card.

EDIT: So, basically, no, "Amazon" itself doesn't ship to Europe, but you can buy one through Amazon and get is shipped to Europe. Is that difference an issue for your friend?

Amazon UK will sell me the 600 for 269.98 GBP, plus 29.99 in shipping for a grand total of 299.98 GBP or 335.70 E. VAT included, of course.

Amazon UK don't usually ship electronics outside the country. Have you tried it out? I get an error message when I confirm my shipping address in Denmark:
"Sony Touch eBook Reader PRS-600 (Black) cannot be shipped to the selected address."

Amazon UK don't usually ship electronics outside the country. Have you tried it out? I get an error message when I confirm my shipping address in Denmark:
"Sony Touch eBook Reader PRS-600 (Black) cannot be shipped to the selected address."

Yes, I have had this problem before, and generally don't shop for anything at Amazon.uk (because the shipping on books is absurdly expensive), so I didn't expect it to work today. I can't tell you whether it would have disallowed the purchase, because I didn't actually try to purchase the item, but it took my credit card, it took my address, and I got to the final screen with the shipping information, price, etc. To continue to the next screen would have meant I had purchased the Reader. So I didn't.

Should I post screen shots, or something? Is no one else able to do this?

Should I post screen shots, or something? Is no one else able to do this?

Here - I came to the same screens, no problems with not shipping to europe. Keep in mind that as you said, it's handled by a daughter company of Amazon / affiliate partner, not Amazon.com itself.

I considered buying it from Amazon.com, but refrained from doing so for three reasons:

1. With VAT (it's a risk - sometimes they charge it, sometimes they don't in my experience) it'd be nearly as expensive as ordering here with free shipping for E300,-.
2. I'm somewhat impatient and did not particularly feel like waiting several weeks.
3. The off chance sometime goes wrong and I could only get service / warranty done by sending it back to the US.

Points 1 and 2 don't seem to apply in your case, or less so since there is no local reseller and the 600 is not officially available in Spain anyway - if you're not in a hurry and spanish customs aren't too picky it would be an easy way to save ~ 25% of the purchase price. It's not Sony's first eReader and overall Sony tends to make good (though bloody expensive) products so the risk of having to send it back inside the warranty period is relatively small. Whether that is worth saving a lot on the purchase price is something you have to decide yourself.

Somewhat related: there are websites in the Netherlands with people buying items in bulk overseas to save on shipping - they generally ask for people to join in, and if enough people buy the item shipping costs drop to nearly nothing (of course, offset again by local shipping, but that's generally a lot cheaper). If there is such an initiative in your region as well, or even if you just know 3, 4 more that would want an ereader, it might be a good way to come out even cheaper.

Yes, I have had this problem before, and generally don't shop for anything at Amazon.uk (because the shipping on books is absurdly expensive), so I didn't expect it to work today. I can't tell you whether it would have disallowed the purchase, because I didn't actually try to purchase the item, but it took my credit card, it took my address, and I got to the final screen with the shipping information, price, etc. To continue to the next screen would have meant I had purchased the Reader. So I didn't.

Should I post screen shots, or something? Is no one else able to do this?

I think it's possible to buy electronics from Amazon.co.uk from outside UK- it was letting me purchase a radio (foolish!); if they don't specify anything against that before, then it's ok. Plus they're usually supercareful with packaging, which is a MUST with readers/liseuses.

Thanks Juliette, that is interesting info. I think in my case, in particular, it isn't worth it to get the PRS-600 shipped from anywhere if I can buy it here for 300E or less. The guy at the local Sony shop says he will have the 600, and that way I save shipping and get service. I used to not care about service, but I have been burned having to return broken things and it is a huge pain. The price here is still a rip off - the PRS-600 with VAT should be about 250E (since they are all made in China or wherever anyway, shipping is irrelevant for the big vendors). A 20% markup!!!

But since I can't get it for that price in any case, I will just buy it here locally if they offer me that price. If not, I can order it from the Apolo people here in Spain, who will ding me for another 15E.

Point 3 is relevant, since if I buy it here in Europe (even from a Spanish reseller when Sony doesn't sell it here) I get a warranty, which is worth something. At least I assume they will support it here even if they don't sell it here. I guess I will have to look at the fine print.

And getting away without paying VAT is hit or miss. All things being equal, I might give it a try, but the warranty makes buying local a good deal. And I would get to hold it before I make the final decision, too.

The situation is different with the DR800, since that isn't available in Europe yet, but I just remembered that they don't support OS X, so I am not going to get that anyway.

I like the idea of going in on a bundle with other people. It is stupid that that needs to even happen - Sony ships it from China to the US, and then it gets re-shipped from the US to Europe because they won't sell it here for a reasonable price. Oh well.